Monday, February 22, 2010

What Cars Have The Best Car Insurance Rates?

By Amy Nutt

When consumers shop for a car, they dont usually consider if the type of car they buy will affect their insurance rates. The type of car you buy actually plays a part in whether you pay a high or low premium. If you are looking to acquire a reasonably priced insurance policy with your new car, it is important to know what cars have the best rates.

The nonprofit public service organization, The Highway Loss Data Institute, (HLDI) is a group that assesses vehicles for the insurance industry to find out which cars are a high risk. By high risk, they mean cars that are most likely to be stolen, involved in an accident as the result of a collision, and have a high number of injury claims filed. When assessing the risk of theft, the organization will look at such as aspects as the number of doors a car has as well as the color of the car.

The HLDI has found that "four door cars have a 93% less chance of having a claim related to theft than 2-door cars of the same make and model." As well, a report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) found that "cars that have the least claims filed for theft include the Buick LeSabre, Volvo V70 Station Wagon, and the Mercury Grand Marquis."

According to HLDI, the lowest injury claims filed are large vehicles such as large cars, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Many car retailers report that the following cars are the least expensive to insure:

- Chrysler PT Cruiser 4dr Wagon - Jeep Liberty Sport 4WD 4dr SUV - Saturn L300 1 4dr Sedan - Volvo S40 4dr Sedan - Saab 38600 Linear 2.3t 4dr SportWagon - Buick Century Special Edition 4dr Sedan - GMC Safari SLE AWD 3dr Minivan - Dodge Caravan SE 4dr Minivan - Saturn ION 1 4dr Sedan - Pontiac Sunfire 2dr Coupe

Vehicles that are among the least expensive for collision claims include:

- GMC Safari 4-wheel drive - GMC Yukon XL 1500 4-wheel drive - Ford Excursion 2-wheel drive - GMC 2500

Vehicle Models with some of the least expensive injury claims include:

- GMC Sierra 2500 2-wheel and 4 wheel drives - Chevrolet Silverado - GMC Yukon XL 1500 4-wheel - Chevy Tahoe 2-wheel

A few of the Top 2009 Safety Pick Cars as published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety include:

- Large Cars: Acura RL, Audi A6, Cadillac CTS, Ford Taurus, Hyundai Genesis - 4-door models built after 11/08, Lincoln MKS, Mercury Sable, Toyota Avalon, Volvo S80 - Midsize Cars: Acura TL, Acura TSX, Audi A3, Audi A4, BMW 3 series 4-door models, Ford Fusion 2009-10 models with ESC (optional in 2009, standard in 2010) - Honda Accord 4-door models, Lincoln MKZ 2010 models, Subaru Legacy, Volkswagen CC - Small Cars: Honda Civic 4-door models (except Si) with optional ESC, Mitsubishi Lancer with optional ESC, Scion xB, - Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla with optional ESC, Volkswagen Rabbit 4-door models, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Passat

When determining insurance premiums, car insurance companies will look at a cars make, model, safety record, and rate of theft. Knowing these statistics will help you choose the best car with the best insurance rate.